The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Echinacea and given the cultivar name ‘Secret Affair’. Echinacea is in the family Asteraceae. This new cultivar is a fifth generation seeding originating from a planned breeding program using Echinacea paradoxa (an unpatented plant) as the seed parent in the original cross and Echinacea purpurea ‘Ruby Giant’ (an unpatented plant) as the pollen parent. The exact parents of this selection are unknown, unnamed, proprietary plants.
Compared to Echinacea ‘Gum Drop’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 22,132), the new cultivar is much shorter and has darker ray florets.
Compared to Echinacea ‘Razzmatazz’ (an unpatented plant) the new cultivar has larger, darker pink flowers and a much smaller habit.
This new Echinacea cultivar is distinguished by:                1. enlarged disc florets forming an anemone-type inflorescence,        2. deep pink disc and ray florets,        3. a medium sized, mounding habit with good stem count and branching, and        4. excellent vigor.        
This new cultivar has been reproduced only by asexual propagation (division and tissue culture). Each of the progeny exhibits identical characteristics to the original plant. Asexual propagation by division and tissue culture using standard micropropagation techniques with terminal and lateral shoots, as done in Canby, Oreg., shows that the foregoing characteristics and distinctions come true to form and are established and transmitted through succeeding propagations. The present invention has not been evaluated under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary with variations in environment without a change in the genotype of the plant.